Thibodaux woman does something about AIDS crisis

The Luapula Foundation helps women and children in the Zambian province of Luapula learn about HIV and AIDS. A 2002 United Nations report on AIDS claims that 16.5 percent of Zambia's 15- to 49-year-old population is HIV-positive.

By KATINA A. GAUDET NYT Regional Newspapers

Published: Sunday, January 30, 2005 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, January 29, 2005 at 11:13 p.m.

A little faith can go a long way . so can a little money.

Unda Lahme learned both in Zambia, where AIDS is killing nearly 20 percent of the nation's population annually.

A registered nurse, the Iowa native and resident of Thibodaux for more than 30 years discovered that a little of both can do much for a Zambian child left orphaned after both parents have succumbed to AIDS, a growing reality for many in sub-Saharan Africa.

Following the death of her husband, Winfried, a counselor at the Assisi Bridge House, Lahme did something she and her husband had wanted to do after the kids left for college. It's something she has thought about since she was 16 years old, having heard President John F. Kennedy speak. She joined the U.S. Peace Corps, accepting a position in Zambia in 2000.

Living in a mud hut with a grass thatched roof, Lahme began to discover the people she traveled across the globe to assist. What she found there was inspiring and troubling.

"It was absolutely wonderful, so beautiful. Extreme poverty, but lovely, loving people," Lahme said about the inhabitants of Chibalashi, where she spent her first two years as a health volunteer, teaching HIV and AIDS education. Given the prevalence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, no Peace Corps volunteers there are allowed to do medical work.

What Lahme found when talking to residents was that the village was in need of a school. With backing from an international bank, natives constructed the school where Lahme and her colleagues could teach children and women about HIV prevention and the realities of AIDS.

The latter, however, is something with which most inhabitants of Zambia are familiar.

According to UNAIDS' 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, 16.5 percent of Zambia's population between 15 to 49 years old is living with HIV, about 830,000 people. That figure rises to 920,000 when the number of children infected with AIDS is added. The number of women infected is 470,000.

It's not unusual for women to bear children who are HIV infected and to transmit the disease to their infants through breast feeding.

According to the report, "Zambia's most critical developmental and humanitarian crisis today is HIV/AIDS. The projected life expectancy has reduced from 60 years at birth (without HIV/AIDS) to 37 years due to the scourge."

That's something Lahme has seen first-hand.

"There was not a day that went by in the village that there wasn't a funeral. It's very common for children to die," Lahme said.

Most adults, she said, are driven by culture and tradition and appear unwilling to change their practices. The country's youth are more receptive to preventive practices.

"The country is dying, basically," she said. "I think the hope of the country is the youth."

Hope can bring about much change, as can faith, as Lahme learned from two Zambian men who became close friends.

At the end of her two-year Peace Corps stint, Lahme and Anderson Zulu and Moses Zulu discussed what they could do to continue their work there, including forming a nonprofit foundation to provide schooling for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.

Schooling in Zambia is free only through grade seven. The nominal school fees are $120 a year for high school and $180 a year for college.

Families who subsist on farming earn less than $1 a day.

Thus, many children cannot continue their education.

Their idea for the Luapula Foundation was to provide school fees for secondary education, uniforms and books. The plan also was to provide assistance to families who take orphans into their homes -- families already struggling to care for their own children.

Skeptical, initially, that the plan would work, Lahme expressed that thought to her colleagues. Afterall, The three had no money.

She was promptly told that one need only have faith.

That evening, the three drew up a mission statement and laid out their goals for the new foundation.

They registered the Luapula Foundation, named after the province in which they were centered, with the Zambian government.

Lahme also received permission from the Peace Corps to continue her stay in Zambia and then focused her energy in finding the funding to meet the foundation's goals by surfing the Internet and writing grant proposals.

In 2002, she returned home and collected nearly $2,000 from friends and family. Money also began to trickle in slowly from other funding sources.

It provides assistance to 20 Zambian youth who are now in their first year of college, training either to be teachers or health care providers.

The faith of the three Luapula Foundation co-founders continues. The Japanese embassy has agreed to build a resource center in the area, responding to a request for assistance. Although the construction has stopped, given the emergency of the country's five-month rainy season, Lahme anticipates work to continue after the rains subside.

Returning to Thibodaux for the Christmas holiday, Lahme worked to raise more funds for the foundation. She returned to Zambia earlier this month to continue her work.

"I see a hope with the youth," Lahme said. "The youth can make a difference and a change."

Those interested in helping the Luapula Foundation can do so by contacting Lahme at 447-8620.

Donations to the Luapula Foundation can be mailed to 3104 Parish Road, Thibodaux, LA 70301.

<p>A little faith can go a long way . so can a little money.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>Unda Lahme learned both in Zambia, where AIDS is killing nearly 20 percent of the nation's population annually.</p><p>A registered nurse, the Iowa native and resident of Thibodaux for more than 30 years discovered that a little of both can do much for a Zambian child left orphaned after both parents have succumbed to AIDS, a growing reality for many in sub-Saharan Africa.</p><p>Following the death of her husband, Winfried, a counselor at the Assisi Bridge House, Lahme did something she and her husband had wanted to do after the kids left for college. It's something she has thought about since she was 16 years old, having heard President John F. Kennedy speak. She joined the U.S. Peace Corps, accepting a position in Zambia in 2000.</p><p>Living in a mud hut with a grass thatched roof, Lahme began to discover the people she traveled across the globe to assist. What she found there was inspiring and troubling.</p><p>"It was absolutely wonderful, so beautiful. Extreme poverty, but lovely, loving people," Lahme said about the inhabitants of Chibalashi, where she spent her first two years as a health volunteer, teaching HIV and AIDS education. Given the prevalence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, no Peace Corps volunteers there are allowed to do medical work.</p><p>What Lahme found when talking to residents was that the village was in need of a school. With backing from an international bank, natives constructed the school where Lahme and her colleagues could teach children and women about HIV prevention and the realities of AIDS.</p><p>The latter, however, is something with which most inhabitants of Zambia are familiar.</p><p>According to UNAIDS' 2004 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, 16.5 percent of Zambia's population between 15 to 49 years old is living with HIV, about 830,000 people. That figure rises to 920,000 when the number of children infected with AIDS is added. The number of women infected is 470,000.</p><p>It's not unusual for women to bear children who are HIV infected and to transmit the disease to their infants through breast feeding.</p><p>According to the report, "Zambia's most critical developmental and humanitarian crisis today is HIV/AIDS. The projected life expectancy has reduced from 60 years at birth (without HIV/AIDS) to 37 years due to the scourge."</p><p>That's something Lahme has seen first-hand.</p><p>"There was not a day that went by in the village that there wasn't a funeral. It's very common for children to die," Lahme said.</p><p>Most adults, she said, are driven by culture and tradition and appear unwilling to change their practices. The country's youth are more receptive to preventive practices.</p><p>"The country is dying, basically," she said. "I think the hope of the country is the youth."</p><p>Hope can bring about much change, as can faith, as Lahme learned from two Zambian men who became close friends.</p><p>At the end of her two-year Peace Corps stint, Lahme and Anderson Zulu and Moses Zulu discussed what they could do to continue their work there, including forming a nonprofit foundation to provide schooling for Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.</p><p>Schooling in Zambia is free only through grade seven. The nominal school fees are $120 a year for high school and $180 a year for college.</p><p>Families who subsist on farming earn less than $1 a day.</p><p>Thus, many children cannot continue their education.</p><p>Their idea for the Luapula Foundation was to provide school fees for secondary education, uniforms and books. The plan also was to provide assistance to families who take orphans into their homes -- families already struggling to care for their own children.</p><p>Skeptical, initially, that the plan would work, Lahme expressed that thought to her colleagues. Afterall, The three had no money.</p><p>She was promptly told that one need only have faith.</p><p>That evening, the three drew up a mission statement and laid out their goals for the new foundation.</p><p>They registered the Luapula Foundation, named after the province in which they were centered, with the Zambian government.</p><p>Lahme also received permission from the Peace Corps to continue her stay in Zambia and then focused her energy in finding the funding to meet the foundation's goals by surfing the Internet and writing grant proposals.</p><p>In 2002, she returned home and collected nearly $2,000 from friends and family. Money also began to trickle in slowly from other funding sources.</p><p>Today, the foundation provides assistance to 36 families and 240 Zambian students.</p><p>It provides assistance to 20 Zambian youth who are now in their first year of college, training either to be teachers or health care providers.</p><p>The faith of the three Luapula Foundation co-founders continues. The Japanese embassy has agreed to build a resource center in the area, responding to a request for assistance. Although the construction has stopped, given the emergency of the country's five-month rainy season, Lahme anticipates work to continue after the rains subside.</p><p>Returning to Thibodaux for the Christmas holiday, Lahme worked to raise more funds for the foundation. She returned to Zambia earlier this month to continue her work.</p><p>"I see a hope with the youth," Lahme said. "The youth can make a difference and a change."</p><p>Those interested in helping the Luapula Foundation can do so by contacting Lahme at 447-8620.</p><p>Donations to the Luapula Foundation can be mailed to 3104 Parish Road, Thibodaux, LA 70301.</p><p>For more information, visit www.luapulafoundation.org.</p>